Xerox and Presstek Announce Successful DocuColor 233 DI Installation

Friday, September 07, 2001

Press release from the issuing company

CHICAGO, September 6, 2001 – Presstek. Inc. (Nasdaq:PRST) and Xerox today announce the successful installation of the DocuColor 233 DI at Royal Printing Services of Guilford, Connecticut. The Presstek DI-enabled DocuColor 233 DI press, a highly automated, A3 size four-color sheet-fed direct imaging press, has been successfully beta tested by Royal Printing since April 2001.
"We had reached the decision to go digital," said Susan Weady, co-owner and President of Royal Printing. "When we saw this DocuColor 233 DI, we were very interested because it was ideal for short runs. On average, Royal Printing handles up to 10,000 impressions on our short runs; so we felt this press was ideally suited to what we were doing. As far as using the system to handle four-color work, we were pretty sure we could develop a new market. We felt digital four-color was going to be a new market for us, with higher earnings and growth potential."
The DocuColor 233 DI is a two-up, four-color digital offset press that incorporates Presstek's new ProFireimaging technology and PEARLdryPlus plates. It is highly automated and greatly streamlines the printing process. Laser arrays image files directly onto mounted plates, eliminating film and processing, and move all digital prepress data directly from computer to press.
According to Weady, the DocuColor233 DI is easy-to-use and easy-to-learn. The unit’s performance has exceeded the company’s expectations. Consistency and quality of the output is strong, and the companion software’s preview, crop and ganging functions are user friendly. The software also provides a high-resolution preview of the RIPped file, making it possible to remove or repair a bad file before it reaches press.
"This press is capable of producing a lot of jobs because of its fast makeready. In general it’s a very profitable press; so we’re looking at new markets as well as our existing client base," Weady adds. "We saw this as an emerging market. Everyone wants color on every level."
"This has been the classic beta that everyone hopes for," Stan Najmr, Director of DI for Presstek, says. "We had a great machine and let an ambitious, intelligent team at Royal have a go at it. They put it through its paces and the results have been spectacular. We thank Royal and Xerox for such gratifying affirmation of this entire project."